SH 

.WGA5 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATIONS IN THE 
STATE OF WISCONSIN 



HEARINGS 

BEFORE THE 

b,^.c..,>... COMMITTEE ON THE 

MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES 

HOUSE OF REPKESENTATIVES 

SIXTY-SIXTH CONGRESS 
THIRD SESSION 

ON 



.• J. «30^0 



WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 1921 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1021 



COMMITTEE ON THE MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES. 

House of Representatives, 
sixty-sixth congress. 



WILLIAM S. GREENE, Massachusetts, Chairman. 



GEORGE W. EDMONDS, Pennsylvania. 
FREDERICK W. ROWE, New York. 
FRANK D. SCOTT, Michigan. 
WALLACE H. WHITE, Jr., Maine. 
FREDERICK R. LEHLBACH, New Jersey. 
SHERMAN E. BURROUGHS, New Hampshire 
CHARLES F. CURRY, California. 
EDWIN D. RICKETTS, Ohio. 
CARL R. CHINDBLOM, Illmois. 
FRANK CROWTHER, New York. 
CLIFFORD E. RANDALL, Wisconsui. 
WILLIAM N. ANDREWS, Maryland. 

Rene G. de Tonn.\ncour, Clerli 



RUFUS HARDY, Texas. 
PETER J. DOOLING, New York. 
LADISLAS LAZARO, Louisiana. 
DAVID H. KINCHELOE, Kentucky. 
WILLIAM B. BANKHEAD, Alabama. 
WILLIAM C. WRIGHT, Georgia. 
EWIN L. DAVIS, Tennessee. 
THOMAS H. CULLEN, New York. 



LIBRAKY OF CONGRESS 

RECEIVED 

AUG 1 ^ 1924 * 

OOC U MENTS_DIIVISIO_N_ j 






ESTABLISHMEiNT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN THE STATE 

OF WISCONSIN. 



Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries, 

House of Representatives, 
Wednesday^ January 12^ 1921. 
The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. William S. Greene 
(chairman) presiding. 

The Chairman. We will take np H. E. 15525 and will hear from 
Representative Esch first. 
The bill is as follows : 

I H. 11. 1.5525, Sixty-sixth Congress, third session.] 

A BILL To piovide fov the establishment on the Mississippi River, in the State of Wis- 
consin, of a flsh-rescue station, to be under the direction of the Bureau of Fisheries 
of the Department of Commerce. 

Be it citactcd hij ihe Senate and House of Rcijresentatires of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established on the 
Mississipiti River, in the State of Wifaeonsin, a station for the i-escue of fishes 
and the propagation of mussels in connection with fish-rescue operations, to be 
under the direction of the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of Conunerce, 
at a point to be selected by the Secretar.v of Commerce, and for this purpose 
there, is authorized to be appropriated the sum of .$7.5,000 for the construction 
of buildings and the purchase of equipment, boats, and such other accessories 
as may be deemed necessary for the successful operation of such station. 

Sec. 2. That in connection with the establishment of such flsh-rescue station 
there is authorized the following personnel, namely : One district supervisor at 
$3,000, to have general charge of fish-rescue and fish-cultural operations in the 
Mississippi Valley ; a field superintendent at .$2,400 ; two field foremen at $1,800 ; 
five fish-culturists at large at $1,400 each; one engineer at large at $1,400; one 
clerk at $1,200 ; two coxswains at large at $1,200 each ; and two apprentice 
fish-culturists at $1,800 each. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN J. ESCH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CON- 
GRESS FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. 

Mr. Esch. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, this bill is to provide 
for the establishment on the Mississippi River, in the afte of Wis- 
consin, of a fish-rescue station, to be under the d?t"edtion of the 
Bureau of Fisheries, Department of Commerce. ^^^ 

The fish-rescue work is something- of a departure in connection 
with the work of the Bureau of Fisheries, although it began some- 
thing like 18 or 20 years ago, so far as the upper Mississippi River 
is concerned, under the direction of R. S. Johnson, who, at that time, 
was an official in the Bureau of Fisheries. He conceived the notion 
that much beneficial work could be done by rescuing fish in the 
landlocked waters of the upper river upon the subsidence of the 
river, beginning with the midsummer months and continuing until 



4 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 

the freeze-up; but he had small equipment and had very sinall ap- 
propriations, so that the work was practically tentative for quite 
a number of years. In 1914, however, the fish rescued in the upper 
river amounted to about 2,500,000, and from that year on there 
has been a very mai'ked increase in the amount of fish rescued. 

Rescue ^vork, so far as is concerned in this bill, means the sein- 
ing of landlocked puddles, pools, bayous, lakes, ponds, and so on, 
in the upper river, and t»ansporting the fish thus seined out of the 
pools, lakes, bayous, etc.. to the main- channel. The reason for this 
is simple. The Mississippi River, in its upper reaches, fluctuates 
from 12 to 15 feet and there are vast bottom lands, the valley of 
the upper river being from 200 to 500 miles in width, traversed by 
numerous cross streams or bayous and lagoons in which the fish 
propagate. 

The water in the upper river begins to subside about midsummer 
after the June rise, and remains low practically throughout the 
balance of the year. As the water recedes there are many lakes, 
pools, and puddles created, and the fish that have been bred therein 
are landlocked, can not escape, and so, in many, many instances, 
perish. They perish, first, because the pool itself may become abso- 
lutely dry or become so shallow that there is not sufficient food 
therein to preserve life: secondly, they perish because, if they hap- 
pen to survive until winter comes, the ice forming over them abso- 
lutely destroys them, because the ice in the upper river sometimes 
reaches a thickness of 30 inches, and the pool being frozen over 
there is no air and they suffocate. In fact, there are many cases 
in which the pools freeze absolutely solid. Rescue work, therefore, 
means the saving of these fish in these landlocked pools, lakes, and 
bayous and putting them back in the main stream. 

Mr. Chindblo]\i. It is one of the few cases. Congressman, where 
nature does not seem to provide for itself. 

Mr. EscH. It does not. and therefore man, Avith his intelligence, 
must come in to save the fish. The work has grown to such a rapid 
extent that it is necessary to have a station established from which 
all operations in the u])per river would be conducted. The bill 
provides such a' station — building the structures, providing the neces- 
sary water equipment, and providing for the necessary personnel. 

I do not know that I can give you a better idea of the necessity, 
character, and value of this work than to give you my experience 
one day the middle of September last. I was invited by Supt. Collier, 
who has charge of the upper river rescue work, to accom])any him 
to the fichJx " .operations near Lynxville, Wis., 40 miles below La 
Crosse, my^lsw-|ie town. We reached the station at Lynxville early in 
the morning and in a launch went to a landlocked sluice which was 
to be seined that day by two crews consisting of five men each, each 
with a foreman. That sluice was one-third of a mile from the river 
bank. 1,500 feet long, and an average of 150 feet wide. The crews 
started wdth a seine about 150 feet long at, say, the lower end of this 
lake, and dragged the net up to the center. The net consisted, I 
think, of an 8-inch mesh, the top cord being buoyed with cork buovs 
to float it and the lower cord being fitted with leaden weights to keep 
it on the bottom. As the crews at each end of the net, walking along 
the banks, drew the net toAvard the center, all the fish were o-raduallv 
driven ahead of the net. When that net had been drago-ed^^out four 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 5 

or five hundred feet toAvard the center of the hike it was staked and 
made fast, so that no fish conld get below it. Then the crew took 
another net of about the same length and about 150 feet long, and 
starting at the upper end of the lake and dragging toward the center. 
When they got to the center they Avove together the two ends of the 
net, leaving the other two ends disengaged. That made an area of 
water something like 100 feet in diameter surrounded by the net. 
The men began pulling in the net. constricting the diameter "gradually. 

As they did that, they utilized the open the disengaged ends of the 
nets in making a runway in the middle and opening into clear -water, 
something like 50 feet in length and with the distance of the nets 3 
or 4 feet apart. When the diameter of the net had gotten down to 
50 feet we noticed considerable agitation upon the surface of the 
water. In some cases the larger fish jumped out, evidently much 
agitated, and a few leaped over the cork edge of the net and escaped — 
a very few. When the diameter had gotten down to about 25 feet, 
the surface was almost in full agitation, there was such a mass of fish. 
The men got out at the outside of this circle and gradually pushed 
the net in toward the entrance to the ruuAvay. a*nd the fish finally were 
all driven into the runway. Then the men took tubs and with dip- 
nets lifted the fish into the tubs, and as the tubs were filled they were 
carried about a third of a mile and dumped into the main river. 
In that small pool or lake in that one day these 12 men took out 98 
tubs of fish, aggregating 560,000 buffaloes, rough fish and game fish ; 
there were literally thousands of black bass, pike, bull heads, catfish, 
and crappies, and then of rough fish, such as carp. 

That is an illustration of the w&.j in which this rescue work is 
carried on. That was a banner day, I admit it, but the average last 
year of a single crew was 110,000 fish rescued a day. 

To give you some idea of the importance of this work, as I stated, 
in 191-t there were about two and a half million rescued. In 1918 
they had rescued 34,000,000. in 1919 they rescued 157,000,000. and 
in this last sejtson, owing to the fact that it was shorter and owing 
to the fact the wages of the men were higher, they rescued 116,750.000. 
I do not know that we can comprehend what that means. The pond 
fishes that are propagated in the 140 hatcheries of the Ignited States, 
according to a statement I have given me b^^ Mr. Leach, aggregated 
only 1.800,000. 8o you have in this rescue work many, many more 
times the amount of game fish rescued than are propagated artificially 
in the Government hatcheries. 

Xow, as to the cost. ]Mr. Leach, in a letter to me of January 14, 
states as follows : 

In reply to your question some time ago, regarding the cost of producing fisli 
at tlie bureau's stations, you are advised that during tlie calendar year 1919 
1.800,000 pond fishes were produced at the various stations operated by the 
bureau. Their approximate cost per thousand was .$4.42 for flngerlings No. 2A. 

What does that mean? 

Mr. Leach. That means 2^ inches in length. 

Mr. EscH (continuing) : 

You will therefore readily see that the 156,388,000 tish rescued during the 
past season by the bureau at a cost of 20 cents per thousand furnishes a good 
illustration of the great value of the work. 



6 ESTABLISHMEXT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WlSCOXSIlsr. 

Mr. Randall. And the cost last year was higher than the year 
before, was it not? ' 

Mr. EscH. Yes. The cost last year was about 21.7 cents per 
thousand, while the year before, 1919, the cost was approximately 
20 cents. I think, gentlemen, that you can not put Government 
money to more valuable use in the matter of conservation and food 
production than in this rescue work on the Mississippi River. It 
can not be done. 

Now, as to the value. In 1918. the rough fish, that would be the 
carp and buffalo, amounted to 2,500,000 pounds, aggregating enough 
to make 400 carloads. The3^were shipped to the eastern markets, the 
chief market being New York, and the amount received therefor was 
$250,000. This gives you some idea of the commercial side of this 
remarkable work, not saying anything about the side of the angler. 

In a letter sent to me by Commissioner Smith, under date of Janu- 
ary 18, 1920, he states : 

Durinjj the senson recently closed — 

That would be the season of 1919 — 

156.338,000 food flshes from li to 4 inches long, representin::: iwaeticully all 
the commercial species han<lled in the markets of the Middle West, were re- 
moved by the bureaii from shallow landlocked pools along the IMississsippi 
River, and all but 820.140 of them were imn)ediately returned to the main river. 
Of the comparatively small number distributed, only 10 per cent were shipped 
to distant points. The remainder wei-e delivered to applicants, who ]ilanted 
them in watei's connected with the IMississippi watershed. 

As is probably well known to you. all the fishes thus salvaged would neces- 
sarily have i)erished and have lieen entirely wasted when the tem])orary pools 
formed at the time of freshet became dry or frozen. 

Judging from the results obtained :it the bureau's hatcheries, where the losses 
on fish carried to the fingerling stage do not exceed 50 per cent, it is estimated 
that at least 25 per cent of the number of fish salvaged in the 1919 operations 
will reach the markets within two to three years and that the average weight 
at that time for all species will not be less than 1^ pounds. Figured on the 
average cost per pound paid l?y commercial dealers in the upper Mississippi 
Valley during December, 1919. the fish salvaged by the bureau duriiag that year 
will he worth .$6,527,000 in two or three years' time — 

Which is jDractically more than the Avhole Bureau of Fisheries cost 
this Government. 

Mr. "Whitk. There has been introduced into the House and re- 
ferred to this committee and. by this committee to a subcommittee on 
fisheries, a great many bills providing for fish-cultural stations and 
Avork of that nature. Offhand, I sliould guess there are 50 or 75 
of them that are sleeping in the subcommittee, calling for an aggre- 
gate of a good many millions of dollars. The subcommittee has not 
acted, I think, largely because we got a pretty plain intimation from 
some authority in the House that they could not look with favor on 
any such demand for money at this time. I take it you have drawn — 
and I want to get it into my head — you draw a distinction between 
fish-cultural stations, as they ordinarily designate them, and this 
rescue work? 

Mr. EscH. Absolutely. 

Mr. White. And there is no suggestion of a fish-cultural plant in 
connection with this proposal of yours? 

Mr. EscH. Not at all ; solely rescue work. 

Mr. White. This is purely a rescue proposition, and we can dis- 
tinguish between that and this mass of other bills ? 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FI8K JJESCUE STATION IN WISC^ONSIN 7 

Mr. EscH. I think you can very readily make a distinction. And 
I call another point to your attention which might justify favorable 
action on this bill, in that it also provides for the propagation of 
mussels in connection with the rescue operations. 

Mr. Chindblom. Before you go to that subject — it may be this 
question would more properly be put to some representative of the 
bureau— are there other rescue stations of this kind in the country? 
Mr: EscH. There are no rescue stations in the United States. 
This work is not confined to the upper river, but in the winter 
months Mr. Collier and his assistants go to the Louisiana waters, as 
Dr. Lazero knows, to do rescue work in tlie lower regions of the 
Mississippi. 

Mr. Chindblom. And there ai'e no stations anywhere^ 
Mr. EscH. There are no stations anywhere; tliis is the only one. 
And I will say the great field for rescue worlc extends from Prescott, 
Minn., which is about 25 miles below St. Paul, to Sabula, Iowa, a 
stretch of approximately MX) miles. The opportunities for rescue 
work in that 800 miles are simply magnificent. Here these millions 
and millions of food fishes have been goin^i' to Avaste year after year 
until this rescue work started, and we can only scratch, as I might 
say, a part of the ground: we can not begin to cover the territory 
because of the limited appropriation and limited facilities. 

The Chairman. Is this rescue work carried on by private enter- 
prise or by the Government ? 

Mr. EscH. Oh, the (xovernment has charge of the whole matter. 
Mr. WnrrE. What are the several States in that neighborhood 
doing, if anything, in connection with this work? 

Mr. EscH. At first there was very marked hostility to the opera- 
tions of the Government in this rescue work. Now they are heartily 
cooperating and giving and surrendering the right of rescue work. 
That is their own territory, and at one time they practically almost 
forbade the (lovernment's rescuing fish. 

Mr. White. You say they are surrendering ; are they contributing ? 
Mr. EscH. They have, but I think the director can a^dvise you more 
clearly as to that. I know at one time Supt. JSTevins, of our conserva- 
tion commission of Wisconsin, attempted to secure some pike and 
bass for distribution in the inner waters of our State, and it was very 
simply stated that it was not primarily designed for rescue. 

Now. in connection Avith the propagation of mussels, Avhich dif- 
ferentiates this bill from any fish-cultural l)ill and which, in my 
judgment, would alone justify its enactment, let me say some 16 
or 16 years ago Profs. La Favre and Johnson, of the University 
of Missouri, made experiments as to artificial propagation of fresh- 
water mussels, and they made some of those experiments in a little 
wooden station in my own home city. I therefore had the oppor- 
tunity of seeing a demonstration. They showed that a fresh-Avater 
mussel propagates in different months of the year; that the eggs 
of the ripe m?issel can^be expressed or taken from the mussel, put in 
a tank of Avater, and then, if fish are placed in the tank, those mussel 
eggs or glochidium — that is the technical term — fasten themselves 
upon the gills, fins, and tails of (he fish in the tank and there they 
foUoAV a parasitic life of from four to five or six Aveeks to tAvo months, 
when they are sloughed off and drop on the bottom of the stream and 
are ready to start their independent existence. 



8 p:stablishme:\"t of fish rescue statiox ix Wisconsin. 

Now. we Avant, in connection with the fish-rescue work, to have 
fish cultiiralists in every rescue crew supplied with the riirht kind 
of mussels, so that as the tubs are taken from the landlocked pools 
and before beino- dumped into the main channel, the fish culturalists 
would place in each tub a certain number of glochidium. and by the 
time the tub reaches the main bank the fish will have been impreg- 
nated with the glochidium and it is all done in the one process. So 
that we will be distributing the mussel all up and down the river 
and we can, therefore, propagate the mussel, which is much suited 
for propagation, for the production of pearl buttons. And Mr. Hull 
is here, in whose district are a large number of button factories, in 
the upper river, where it is a large industry, and one which, unless 
Ave produce a large supply of these mussels. Avill have to go out of 
business, involving many thousands of employees. 

Mr. Davis. Will the distribution of these mussels be universal ; 
in other words, would they be distributed in such a way that they 
Avould be aA^ailable in deeper waters? 

Mr EscH. They are put right into the river 

Mr. Davis. I understand that. 

Mr, EscH. The fish is impregnated and then the fish goes where 
he Avills and each fish seek^ its oAvn spaAA-ning place and season. We 
do not knoAv Avhere they go. but Ave find they can be artificially propa- 
gated and the work is successful. The Government has already rec- 
ognized the A'alue of the mussel production by establishing a hatchery 
at Fair Port. Iowa. I think it was established some 10 or 20 years 
ago. 

Mr. Davis. What I meant Avas this. Mr. Esch : It is not valuable 
from a commercial standpoint except where those mussels are in 
comparatiA^ely shalloAv Avater. In other words, they can not be 
gathered in any other way, can they? 

Mr. Esch. Oh. they fish for the mussels in the upper river prac- 
tically in the main channels. 

Mr. Davis. With a form <^f dredge? 

Mr. Esch. They have rakes on wdiich are numerous hooks, and 
these are dropjied to the bottom of the river and dragged along on 
the bottom, and as the hook comes in contact Avith the mussel it grabs 
hold of it and is pidled up: it don't know enough to let go. 

Mr. (^HiNDBLOM. Maybe somebodA' else can answer this question 
more readily, but Avhat do we know about the migration of these 
particular kinds of fish you haAe up there in the landlocked waters? 
Will they traA^el A^ery far? 

Mr. Esch. I judge so. because the conditions are practically the 
same for hundreds of miles along the river; but I would prefer to 
haA-e you ask the question of Mr. Leach or Director Smith. I think 
it ought to be realized that here is a chance for doing, Avith a small 
amount of money, an enormous amt^jnt of good, because fish are the 
cheapest form of meat food. 

STATEMENT OF DR. HUGH M. SMITH, COMMISSIONER OF 

FISHERIES. 

Dr. Smith. I Avould like to concur in eAerything that INIr. Esch has 
said about the nature and importance of this work, and in ansAver 
to the question of Mr. Chindblom a moment ago I Avill say prac- 
tically all of the fishes involved in these operations are more or less 



ESTABLISHMEisT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WlSCOIsSlN. 9 

migratoiy. so that when rescued fish in Wisconsin are returned to 
the main stream, those fish may be caught for the market in Missouri 
or Illinois or Iowa or farther south. And when you innoculate such 
fish with the young mussels the fisli will distribute those mussels all 
over the length of the Mississippi Valley. So tliat this really is not 
State work; it is work which is interstate and very properly falls to 
the charge of the Federal GoA'ernnient. Work done anywhere in the 
Mississippi Valley at any point may benefit all the States in the 
Mississippi Valley. 

Mr. Lazaro. Dr. Smith. Mr. Esch a while ago spoke of some res- 
cue work being done in Louisiana. W^ould you mind telling us what 
kind of work is done there and just how much work? 

Dr. Smith. That is a field that has not been properly developed 
because we have not had the facilities, but Louisiana undoubtedly 
offers fine opportunities for the rescue of some of the most valuable 
food fishes — black bass, and particularly buffalofish and catfish. 

Mr. Ci-iiNDRLOM. I suppose the headwaters of all the big streams in 
the country would furnish opportunity for this kind of a station, 
would they not ? 

Dr. Smith. The opportunity is particularly marked in the Mis- 
sissippi and its tributaries, but we could very properly extend the 
work into the Missouri and the Ohio and various other of the major 
tributaries. 

Mr. Davis. How about the Cumberland and the Tennessee? 

Dr. Smith. If those rivers are subject to freshet and leave the 
fishes stranded in the farm lands, as on the Mississippi, then there is 
certainly a field and somebody ought to go in and do the work, 
because this is a form of fish conservation which for immediate re- 
sults has no equal. W^e are operating many fish hatcheries, as Mr. 
Esch has pointed out, but if we had 350 hatcheries handling the same 
kind of fish we are rescuing we could not have exceeded by artificial 
means what we did in the rescue operations in 1919. It is an actual 
fact that 345 hatcheries would have been required to produce the 
fish that were saved from certain destruction by this fish-rescue work 
in 1919. and this work is done at a cost that is insignificant. About 
80 per cent of the fish Ave rescued in 1919 were salvaged at a cost of 
13 cents per thousand, all overhead charges included. 

Mr. Chairman. I prepared a popular article on this subject last 
year, thinking it would appeal to many people in various parts of the 
country, and. with your permission. I would like to pass copies of 
this reprint among the members of the committee. 

The Chairman. I recollect a number of years ago we had quite 
extensiA'e hearings in regard to the mussel business. 

Dr. Smith. Yes. 

Mr. Raxdall. Ought the contents of this article not appear as a 
part of our hearing ? 

The Chairman. I think it might be a A^ery good idea. 

Mr. Esch. You could not put in the illustrations. I su])pose. witli- 
out authority of the House ; but the text could ])e put in. 

Mr. Chindblom. I guess we could put in the illustrations if Dr. 
Smith can furnish the plates. 

Dr. Smith. Yes; we have the photographs. Tlie mussel industry, 
to which reference has been made and Avhicli represents an annual 



10 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH EESCU'E STATION IN WISCONSIN. 

value of a great many million dollars, with the dependent pearl- 
button business, is absolutely dependent on the presence and abun- 
dance of these fishes which we are rescuing, because it has been 
established that the different sorts of mussels which are made into 
pearl buttons must attach themselves to particular fishes in ortler 
to pass through the early stages of their existence. 

INIr. Chindblom. They fasten themselves to certain fishes? 

Dr. Smith. They have a predilection for certain fishes, and if 
those fishes are not there these mussels will not grow or survive. 
So that some of the most valuable mussels, like the thick white-nacred 
form popularly known as the 'Miiggerhead ■' and having no other 
common name is dependent upon the presence and abundance of a 
kind of fresh-water herring, which does not exist in great numbers 
but which has been salvaged in very considerable quantities, com- 
paratively speaking . If those fish are not saved that particular sort 
of mussels is doomed to extinction, and these gentlemen connected 
with the button industry can say how serious a matter that would be. 

Mr. FicKETT. It Avould put us out of business. 

Mr. Randall. These fish salvaged here are the kind of fishes that 
the germs, or what they call the glochidia. have a predilection for? 

Dr. Smith. Yes: because, as a matter of fact, we salvage every 
kind of fish in the Mississippi Valley. 

Mr. White. I wish you would put into the record a simple expla- 
nation of the process of propagation of these mussels and Avhat part 
the fish play in it. 

Dr. Smith. These mussels, of wliicli tliere are scores of sj^ecies in 
the Mississippi Kiver and its tributaries, produce an enormous num- 
ber of young, which are thrown off in micropscopic form in clouds. 
Unless the fish are present when these young mussels are swimming 
freely in the water the mussels will perish. They will fall to the 
bottom Ijefore they liaA'e attained a stage of development that fits 
them for the bottom life. So it is absohitely essential these fish be 
made available to them either by natural or artificial means — fishes 
to whose gills they can attach themselves. These young mussels, 
wliich liave the power of movement, attach themselves immediately 
to the gills of suitable fishes, and it is a part of our work in connection 
with rescue operations, and it is a part of the functions of our station 
at P^airport, low^a, to inoculate suitable fishes with these mussels. 
And we are doing that Avork on a A-ery extensiA^e scale. 

Mr. White. They attach themselves to the gills of fishes and sur- 
Adce until such stage of their development is attained that they can 
drop off and go to the bottom and Ha^c ? 

Dr. Smith. That is the idea. They do not harm the fishes: they 
seem to set up a little irritation in the gill filaments and quickly 
embed themseh'^es in the soft tissues of the gills and pass part of their 
existence there, extending from a fcAv Aveeks to several months, de- 
pending on the kind of mussel. They then fall to the bottom and 
are able to look after themseh^es. 

The button manufacturers are very much interested in this Avork 
and during the past season. Avhen Ave found Ave Avere not co\ering 
the territory as pro})erly and adequately as Ave should, they them- 
seh^es proA^ded the men to go along Avith our seining creAvs tt> assist 
in the operations and inoculate tlie fishes with the mussel spaAvn that 



ESTABLLSHMEXT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 11 

AAas present in enormous (|uantities in all of the res«-ue centers. Anil 
that Avork, in which the pearl-button manufacturers cooperated dui'- 
ino- the past season, in October and November and probably into De- 
cember, resulted in the salvage of 5,841,000 of the food and trame 
fishes of the Mississippi and we estimate that nearly 5()(),0()0.000 
young- mussels were inoculated on those fishes and started on their 
independent career. 

The Chairman. Hoav do you dispose of those fishes; are they sold 
to the market? 

Dr. Smith. These fishes are immediately })lanted in the Missis- 
sippi because they are young; they are fishes that have come into 
existence during the period of high water, which usually comes 
at a time when a majority of the fishes in the river are in a spawn- 
ing condition, and when the water subsides the eggs and the young 
are left behind. Most of the old fish are able to find theii' way back 
to the main channels, but these helpless young are left behind and 
they are the ones that we rescue, and by the time our crews reacli 
these landlocked waters the young have attained an average letigth 
of several inches. 

We regard this woik as of very great importance, because of the 
enormous quantities of food fish we can save from certain destruc- 
tion. I may say we have never had proper recognition from Con- 
gress for this work and never had a special appropriation for it. 
We have been carrying on the work because it seemed to be an ob- 
vious duty, and we have been paying for it out of our general ap- 
propriations and conducting it under our general authority. We 
would be very glad if Congress would indicate its appreciation of 
its importance and give us specific authority to carry it on, as pro- 
A^ded in this bill. 

Mr. White. How much money have you been s})ending in work 
of this nature heretofore? 

Dr. Smith. The amount we expended in 1919. Avhen we leached 
the high-Avater mark and rescued nearly loT.000,000 fishes, was about 
$30,000, was it not, Mr. Leach? 

Mr. Leach. Yes, sir. 

Dr. Smith. That was taken from our general propagation fund. 

The Chairman. You propose here to recommend an apnroj)ria- 
tion of $75,000? 

Dr. Smith. Yes, sir: because we have not begun to cover all the 
available territoiy. 

Mr. Chindblom. I observe that the $75,000 reconmiended here is 
for the construction of buildings and for the piij^thase of equipment, 
boats and accessories. 

Mr. EscH. And the personnel. 

Mr. Chindblom. And the payment of salaries of the personnel. 

Mr. EscH. That would be a permanent proposition. 

Mr. Chindblom. That would be a separate appropriation, would 
it not? 

Mr. EscH. Yes. 

Mr. Chindblom. But the $75,000 is intended for buildings and 
equipment? 

Mr. EscH. Yes. 

Mr. Chindblom. That need not be an annual appropriation? 



12 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATIO^iT IX WISCONSIK". 

Mr. EscH. Oh, no. 

Dr. Smith. Once made, it would not be necessary to renew it. 

Mr. Chindblom. But of course the appropriation requested for 
the personnel would become an annual appropriation? 

Mr. EscH. Yes. 

Mr. Chindblom. And the total of that is how much, Dr. Smith? 
$14,200. I make it— about $15,000 per annum. 

Mr. EscH. You might state. Doctor, what would be put into the 
permanent structure. 

Dr. Smith. We would need some buildings and facilities for 
holding the fish while they are being inoculated with the mussels 
and while they are being hardened preparatory to shipment to dis- 
tant parts of the river. We need vessels ; we want to equip a num- 
ber of new crews with the vessels and launches and Avith house-boats 
for the holding of the men and their equipment while the actual 
operations are going on. 

Mr. White. I do not ask this question as indicating any hostility 
of my own to this proposal, but if we recommend this appropriation, 
is there an unlimited field for this kind of work, or would it prop- 
erl}^ be confined to those few streams running through land of this 
general character, Ayhere you have this large rise and rapid reces- 
sion of waters? 

Dr. Smith. The greatest need for this kind of work is in the 
Upper Mississippi. 

Mr. Whitj:. And we are not establishing a precedent that Avould 
carry us to every other stream in this country, but only to the 
streams of this particular character where there is this rapid rise 
and sudden fall of water? 

Dr. Smith. That is the case. And with the facilities that would 
be provided by the proposed appropriation for equipment and per- 
sonnel we would be able to care for all the apparent needs through- 
out the Mississippi River and its major tributaries. 

Mr. White. This personnel could operate not only in the winter 
months, but. when there would be no possibility to do rescue work 
in the upper river, they could go elsewhere? 

Dr. Smith. That is what we have in mind. 

Mr. White. So that they will have a continuous line of Avork? 

Mr. Smith. While the rescue work, as now conducted in the upper 
half of the Mississippi covers only about six months, it is possible 
to do that work throughout most of the year by entering at present 
unoccupied fields. 

Mr. White. An(^there is a limit to the fields, we can properly 
say ? 

Dr. Smith. There is a limit, the available fields as we now recog- 
nize them would be covered by such a bill as this. 

Mr, Lazaro. Mr. White, a while ago, spoke of a number of bills 
for fish hatcheries that had been api^roved by your bureau, but that 
had not been enacted into law because of the hard times and the 
seeming unwillingness of Congress to appropriate the money. Do 
you not think it would be good economy for Congress, to appro- 
priate money not ontj for a measure of" this kind, to reseue fish, 
but to carry these bills through and establish these stations, on ac- 
count of meat being so high all over the country, and fish being a 
good food and a cheap food and a healthy food? 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH EESCUE STATION IX WISCONSIN 1?> 

Dr. Smith. We would he much pleased to see additional fish hatch- 
eries established in various parts of the country. I am not so sure 
this is the opportune time, however, because of the oreatly increased 
cost of construction. In early times, when we got most of the hatch- 
eries we now have, the lands and the buildings and the ponds could 
1)6 provided for from twenty to twenty-five thousand dollars. In 
more recent years Ave have found at least $50,000 is lecjuired for that 
purpose. And I am not prepared to say that $7r),000 would be 
adequate with the present condition of the lal)or and materials 
markets. 

^Ir. Lazaro. But in cases where the States, for instance, would be 
willing to contribute 

Dr. Smith. I believe there is no authority by which a State can 
assist in the construction of a Federal building. That would give 
the State a hold which Congress might not be willing to permit. 

]Mr. Lazaeo. If my memoiy serves me right, I think in our State 
our legislature has giA'en the conservation commission authority. 

Dr. Smith. In your State, we have established a field station for 
hatching one of your most valuable food fishes and we have been 
doing most excellent work there in cooperation with your vState 
conservation commission. 

Mi\ Lazaro. You remember that when the legislature gave them 
the authority? 

Dr. Smith. Yes. 

Mr. Lazaro. And the State is cooperating; is not that true? 

Dr. Smith. Yes. sir. We cooperate with the States everywhere, 
and our own effectiveness and the value of the State work is greatly 
increased as a consequence; but this particular station to which Dr. 
Lazaro refers is one we regard as a field station. It has no perma- 
nent equipment, can be moved from place to place, and has not per- 
sonnel except what we detail from other stations. 

^Ir. Davis. Of course Ave all realize the increased cost of construc- 
tion under present conditions; but. generally speaking, Avould it not 
be a matter of economy to liaA^e more widely distributed hatcheries, 
on account of the cost of transportation for long distances and also 
the loss of life of the young fish Avhere they are carried too far ? 

Dr. Smith. I think as a general proposition, sir, there ought to be 
additional hatcheries because of the A'arious ]3oints Avhich you make. 
We haA'e to distribute the hatchery output over very long distances 
noAv, in order to meet the demand, and railroad transportation for 
our young fishes has increased about 100 per cent in cost during the 
last fcAv years. 

Mr. EscH. You have your OAvn cars? 

Dr. SiMiTH. We haA^e our OAvn cars, but the cost of transportation 
has practically been doubled since 1914. 

The Chairman. I have a letter from the Department of Com- 
merce explaining their interest in this bill Avhich I Avill put in the 
hearing. 

(The letter referred to is as follows :) 

Depaetj[ent of Commekce, 
Washington, January 11. 1921. 
My Dear Co^gkessmax : In reply to .vonr letter of January 8, asking' for a 
report on H. R. 1.5.52.5, to provide for the establishment on the Mississippi River, 
in the State of Wisconsin, of a fish-rescue station, I beg to advise that a full 



14 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 

considerutioii of tlie coiuUtions wcmld indicate llie need for such a station. As a 
conservation project it stands foremost on account of tlie great number of food 
fislies tliat may be saved and placed in waters where they will be of ultimate 
value to the public. By the conservation of this natural resource the food supply 
of the Mississippi Valley will be greatly augmented. 

Through the establishment of such a station, rescue operations can be more 
economicallv conducted than at the present time, thus resulting in the saving 
of public funds. As now conducted the personnel for the resfue work is drawn 
from four separate and distinct permanent stations, and it is therefore not as 
efficient nor as well trained as would be the case were a personnel especially 
provided for the purpose. The importance of the work as a means of increasing 
the food supply of the country can hardly be equaled in any other manner, cost, 
results, and quick returns being considered. 

The Commissioner of Fisheries advises me that in his opinion the appropria- 
tion specified in this bill will be ample for the purpose, and that the bureau's 
output of the commercial fishes of the Mississippi Valley can be increased from 
100 to 200 per cent through the agencies authorized by the bill. 

For the purpose of broadening the bill and making it of more general interest, 
it is suggested that in line 6, after the word " operations," there be inserted rhe 
following: "Throughout the Mississippi Valley." 
Sincerely, yours, 

J. W. Alexander. 
Secret fn-y of Cnmmcrrc. 

Hon. William S. Greene. 

Chairman Committee on the ?J( reliant Marine ami Fisheries, 

House of Representatives. 

Dr. Smith. Mr. Leach, who is in charge of our fish-cultural Avork 
and is personally familiar with conditions on the upper Mississippi, 
is here and would be glad to answer any questions that might be 
asked as to the details of this work. 

STATEMENT OF MR. G. C. LEACH, IN CHARGE OF THE DIVISION 
OF FISH CULTURE, BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 

Mr. Leach. I believe the committee can better follow my remarks 
by referring to a map I have here. The places indicated "vvith the 
black cross marks represent the points where we are at present doing 
rescue Avork. Those in red show the possibilities of the field, com- 
mencing with Prescott, Minn., and extending down into Louisiana. 
You will notice in practically every State there are lowlands along 
the Mississippi River which overflow every spring and in Avhich the 
fish go in large numbers to deposit their spawn. After spawning the 
waters usually recede and the old fish, folloAving their natural in- 
stincts, seek the main river and leave their eggs and possibly some 
of the young fish, too small to folloAv them, in the landlocked pools. 

Mr. White. When do the fish usually spawn ? 

Mr. Leach. The fish usually spawn in May and June in the upper 
reaches of the river and in April and May in the lower sections, down 
in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. There is a large territory 
in the States of Illinois, Kentucky, and Mississippi, and there is a 
very large territory in the vicinity of La Crosse. 

Mr. White. When do the fish spawn up in the northern regions? 

Mr. Leach. The fish spawn in the upper river — Minnesota, Wis- 
consin, loAva, and Illinois — in May and June. 

Mr. Chindblom. There is considerable room for this work in the 
Illinois River? 



ESTABLISH xMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WISCONSIN 15 

Mr, Leach. Yes ; there is a lot of room for it in the Illinois River. 

Mr. Chindblom. Incidentally, I think, the Illinois River produces 
the hu'fjest number of fish in the world. 

Mr. Leach. The catch is possibly 70 per cent carp and similar 
rough fish, the remainder being- bass and catfish. From Meredosia, 
111., for a distance of about 40 miles each way there is a section that 
is entirely flooded during the overflow stages in the spring. jSTu- 
merous small pools, bayous, and lakes are formed, in which the fish 
seek spawning grounds. 

Mr. White. Are all these fish you have mentioned food fish? 

Mr. Leach. Practically every one of them ; some few nonedible fish, 
like gars and dogfish are taken, but not many, 

Mr. White. Those that are not food fish are destroyed ? 

Mr. Leach. We do not enumerate any except food fish in our list 
of fish rescued. The nonedible fish are either destroyed or utilized 
for fertilizers. 

Mr. Randaij.. May I ask right here why you ship and sell what 
you call rough fish ? 

Mr. Leach. The carp and buffalo ? 

Mr. Randall. Yes. 

Mr. Leach. The bureau does not sell any species of fish. However, 
commercial fishermen sell large quantities of carp and buffalo fish 
on the eastern markets. Carp are sold mostly alive in New York City. 
Large amounts of carp and buffalo fish are sold in the mining dis- 
tricts and other places where a cheap class of fish food is highly de- 
sirable. In the bureau's rescue operations 99 per cent of the fish 
saved are from 1 to 3 inches in length. 

Mr. Chindbloom. There is a large demand for carp and buffalo in 
Boston. 

Dr. Smith. You do not get the idea, sir, that we are shipping and 
selling those fish ; that the Government is doing that ? 

Mr. Randall. My understanding was that part of the fish recap- 
tured were shipped to market. 

Dr. Smith. About one-tentii of 1 per cent of the number which 
we rescue iwe sent into the surrounding States for stocking the local 
waters, but they are not sold. They are young fish furnished gratis 
for stocking purposes and are not suitable for food. But there is a 
very large business in commercial fishing in this whole region. 

Mr. Leach. Under the present arrangement, we draw our personnel 
from the Homer (Minn.) station, the Manchester (Iowa) station, 
and the Louisville station. These men must handle the rescue work, 
and this means that the output of their home stations is more or less 
curtailed. It means we must also take from the funds for the regu- 
larly established fish-cultural stations the money with which to con- 
duet the operations. What we require is a permanent rescue per- 
sonnel to take care of that work, leaving the present personnel to 
man the stations and handle their fish-cultural duties. Until we 
have a regularly established personnel for this fish-rescue work, men 
trained and efficient, who understand all this territory here and loiow 
where to seek the pools wiiich dry up first, we are always going to 
be handicapped. We can not use new men in that field, because they 
have to know which pools dry up first and where they are to be 
found. 



16 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH KESCrE STATION IN WISCONSIN, 

Mr. White. Are the physical conditions snch, as a general proposi- 
tion, that yon can do yonr rescue work in Louisiana without neglect- 
ing it up here in Wisconsin and Minnesota, or vice versa? 

Mr. Leach. I might explain that by saying that our operations 
start in the upper reaches of the river, at Prescott, Minn., along yi 
July, and continue until December. What we call the upper river 
is that section from Prescott, Minn., down as far as Cairo, 111. 

At the close of the work in December the equipment is stored and 
left at one of the main stations. 

Along in January. February, and March our crews are down in 
Louisiana and that section of the river. Down there they rescue 
the more A'aluable commercial species, such as the l)uffalo fish. Be- 
fore we undertook that Avork the eggs of the buffalo fish were sent 
to market and lost. Last year we were instrumental in distributing 
something like 110.000,000 buffalo-fish fry; and if our men had not 
undertaken the operations all of those fish would have been lost. 
The operations can extend northward from Louisiana to the mouth 
of the Ohio River, Avhere the work would be undertaken in June,, 
and in the Illinois River it could be undertaken some time in May. 
Tliere is a peculiar situation in regard to the Illinois River. It 
overflows the dikes in the spring, and then the companies up there 
interested in land undertake to pump the water back into the main 
river. That leaves the fish high and dry on the land, or else they 
have to pass through the pumps, where they are destroyed. We* find 
it advantageous to send men into that field during the season when 
they are pumping aild gather up the fish and put them back in the 
main river. Some two or three years ago, I believe, we rescued 
something like four or five hundred thousand fish at one point in 
just a few days. By working our crews that way they will be busy 
throughout the year. That is why we Avish to make this bill broad 
enough to include the entire Mississippi Valley. That is the only 
region Avliere rescue operations can be conducted, and that is the Avork 
for which Ave Avish the establishment of certain buildings. 

We find it advantageous to distribute some of the fish in the sec- 
tion outlined in red on the maj) and place them in the upper tributary 
Avaters of the Mississippi. I believe better results are obtained in 
this Avay than by putting them all back into the main river. It giA^es 
the people in that section of tlie country a cliance to get fresh fish 
for home consumption. OtherAvise the fisli Avould have to be shipped 
in from the Pacifi^f coast, the Great Lakes, or the Atlantic coast. 
They see no reason Avliy they should not be entitled to fresh fish, 
and they are continually beseeching us to extend our operations. 

Mr. Chindblom. I notice the station in the neighborhood of Cairo 
Avould cover operations in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Mr. Davis. I do not think that covers Tennessee. 

Mr. Leach. There are great possibilities around the region of 
Reelfoot Lake and LoAver St. Francis RiA^er, in Arkansas and 
throughout southeastern Missouri, in the swamp regions. We haA'e 
neA^er had sufficient equipment to cover that field. All of our equip- 
ment has been purchased through our funds appropriated for fish- 
cultural work. 

Mr. EscH. You might explain how you connect up the large Avork 
of mussel propagation with the rescue Avork. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 17 

Dr. Smith. Wherever these fishes are being rescued there are 
likely to be found pearl mussels in spawning condition, and it is the 
simplest thing in the world to open those mussels in a tub of water, 
liberate their free-swimming young, and then i)ut fishes into the 
tubs. They inoculate themselves. By examining their gills from 
time to time, 3^011 can get a very good idea of the intensity of the 
inoculation, because the young mussels, which are light in color, 
show up distinctly on the red gills. Then the fish are simply dis- 
tributed as though they had not been inoculated, and they are serv- 
ing a very useful double purpose in that Ava}'. 

Mr. EscH. And your experience as to the number of glochidia that 
a^given size of fish can carry you might explain that. 

Dr. Smith. Yes : we do not overimpregnate the young fish, but do 
the work judiciously. The number we put on an adult fish at the 
special station at Fairport, on the Mississippi Eiver, averages about 
2,000 to 3,000. The fish are selected Avith reference to the particular 
mussels wdiose young w^e have available. 

Mr. Chindblom. How large a fish would that ])e that would carry 
3,000— a foot long? 

Dr. Smith. Yes. A black bass of a couple of pounds could carry 
2,500 or 3,000 young mussels without sluj inconvenience. There is 
no evidence that this inoculating does them any harm. There is a 
little irritation obviously set up. because the young soon become em- 
bedded in mucus, but as soon as they fall off the gills become normal. 
Mr. EscH. I noticed in one of your folders the result of the experi- 
ments you carried on at Lake Pepin. You impregnated a given size 
pike with 3,000 glochidia. They were put in on the 19th da}'- of 
August and they were sloughed off about the 1st day of May; and 
of the 3,000 that were impregnated on a given fish, 883 were dropped 
off as clams, showing a production of 27 and a fraction per cent. 

Dr. Smith. One of the most valuable mussel shells abounds in that 
particular section and it was that species which we, in cooperation 
with the button manufacturers, inoculated on some 5,000,000 rescued 
fish last fall. About 500,000,000 young mussels were put on those 
rescued fish in the short season of 1920. 

The Chairman. What do you do with these young mussels ; do you 
dispose of them ? 

Dr. Smith. They are inoculated on the fishes, the fishes are liber- 
ated, and at a certain stage the mussels drop off and go to the bottom 
of the river to begin their independent existence, and then are taken 
out in a few years and made into buttons. 

The Chairman. You have nothing to do with that part of it ? 
Dr. Smith. We have nothing to do with that part of it, although, 
as a matter of fact, we have reared at the Fairport station these 
young mussels that have been inoculated on the fishes' gills and we 
have made buttons from mussels we have grown in this artificial way. 
Mr. Chindblom. How long does it take a mussel, ordinarily, to get 
large enough for commercial purposes? 

Dr. SiiiTH. Four or five years, possibly, is the youngest age at 
which they attain a marketable size or should be taken for manu- 
facture. 

Mr. Davis. You do not think this inoculation of the mussels on the 
gills of the fish retards the growth of the fish during that period ? 
291.58—21 2 



18 ESTABLISHAIEXT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WISCOXSIX. 

Dr. Smith. We have no reason to believe so. sir, because in the 
state of nature this same thintj is going on: only in a state of natiiri- 
the right kind of fish suitable for given mussels when they ai'e in a 
spawning condition are not always present. We bring the fish and 
mussels together and in that way improve on nature. 

When the Fatheii of Waters (Joes on a ItA:\ii'A(;K. 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SALVAGING l)E FOOD FISHES 1 MOM THE OVEHF!.0\V El) LANDS OK 

THE MISSISSIPPI KIVER. 

|By Hugh H. Smith, United States Commissioner of Fisheries.] 

Oii«:^ of the most iiiipoitant of the varied fiuiotions of the United States Bureau 
of Fisheries is a mighty effort to vmdo one of nature's apparent lilunders and 
mitigate tlie damage done annually to the prospective food supply of tlie coun- 
try by a cataclysm involving untold millions of the best lishes in the ilississippi 
River and its tributaries. 

This effort, yielding large practical results and coming at a period when there 
is most urgent demand for the prevention of waste and tlie maintenance of re- 
sources, must be rated as of great public importance and as worthy of .general 
recognition and support. 

The Father of Waters is a serious offender against the host of food and game 
ti.shes which populate its turbulent course, and exhibits mai'ked disregard for 
the welfare of the entire tish tribe. Every year, and several times a year, it 
overflows its banks, wanders far from its proper haunts, and then subsides, 
leaving behind temporary pools, ])onds, and lakes in which are myriads of young 
fishes whose destruction is inevitable unless human agency comes to their aid. 
Inasmuch as these tishes represent a large part of the future adult supply of all 
the leading species, their rescue and return to the main stream is ji matter of 
the utmost importance. 

For many years there has been ;i realization of this stuiKSidous annual w;iste 
of food tishes, and stei)s have been taken to rejiair some of that waste. It was 
only recently, however, that the efforts bore an adequate ratio i<t the magnitude 
of t!;e task, and it was not until 191!I that the o))erations as.-^umcd a -scope and 
yielded results that could be regarded as fairly conuneiisurate with the need. 

The annual freshet in the iNIississippi River of greatest importance to the 
lisheries is the one known as the "June rise." which usually occurs about the 
time when most of the river fishes are ready to spawn. It is somewhat later 
than the freshet caused by the melting snows, but is usually of e(iual volume 
and represents surplus rainfall that is seeking a southern outlet. 

PREHISTORIC GLACIERS CUT A WIDE VALLEY. 

In prehistoric times great glaciers, moving down from the nortii, seem to 
have cut a wide, deep valley through the upper reaches of the river, and through 
this passage fre<iuent floods have for ages brought down and deposted silt -ind 
drift in such quantities that the main channel has l)een crowded from the center 
toward one af the precipitous banks on either side, while the remainder of what 
formerly constituted the river bed is now a low tableland, with a gradual 
ascent toward the hills. 

It would appear that at one time the main river flowed unhindered through 
what is now wooded, lake-covered territory, and that great drifts gradually 
formed and divided the old bed into land-locked [xaids, many parts of it with the 
lapse of time becoming so completely filled in as to provide secure anchorage for 
trees and other vegetation. 

As the river rises it first submerges the adjacent lowlands, making ponds and 
lakes on the nearest levels ; with its continued rise, lakes are formed at higher 
levels, and so on until the flood stage has been reached, when depressions are 
often 'filled quite remote from the main channel. 

Pursuing their natural instincts, the adult fishes at flood time leave the main 
channel and seek quiet backwaters in wdiich to deposit their eggs. The eggs 
are laid under conditions that appear to be favorable for their development 
and for the hatching and growth of the young, and the latter may attain a 
length of several inches before the freshet begins to subside. With the reces- 
sion of the flood waters, the adults turn their noses in the direction of safety 



ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 19 

and most of tlieni ultimately reach the main stream. The young, however, fail 
to react promptly to the falling waters, and a very large proportion of them 
sooner or later are cut off and become permanently landlocked. 

The temporary pools, ponds, lakes, and canals left by the subsiding flood 
waters are of various shapes, sizes, and depths. Some of them become dry in 
a few days; others may persist for weeks or months, while their water is 
gradually lost by evaporation and .seepage; others, in smallei- number, continue 
until winter, when they soon become solidly frozen. 

YOUNG FISHES DOOMED TO DIE. 

The larger pools that survive the summer are often rich feeding grounds for 
the young fish, which grow \vith such amazing rapidity that many of them 
may attain a length of 8 to 10 inches h^' early November. 

In any event, the fish contained in the landlocked waters necessarily die. 
The mortality may ensue quickly, as when a small pool becomes completely dry 
in a few days, or it may be gradual and long drawn out, as in a pond or lake of 
some acres area. 

The frightful conditions that prevail as the water becomes reduced and the 
fishes more and more concentrated can well be imagined. The fishes' suffer- 
ing from lack of water and air is usually aggravated by starvation, by the 
daily heating of the water by the sun's rays to a point that is almost intoler- 
able and often fatal, b.v cannibalism, and by wading birds, snakes, turtles, mam- 
mals, and other fish-eating creatures from which there is no escape. The pools 
that persist until winter are so shallow that the fishes are killed by smothering, 
even if the water does not freeze to the bottom. 

HOW THE FISHES ARE RESCUED. 

The work of salvaging food fishes is simple, direct, and effective. It consists 
of netting the fishes from their unfavorable environment and depositing them 
in the open water of the Mississippi, and is accomplished by properly equipped 
rescue parties dispatched to the flooded districts from conveniently located 
bases or headquarters. 

A Government fish^rescue crew consists of six to eight men, who employ a 
small launch in going to tlieir field of operations and in returning to their base. 
The necessary equipment comprises fine-mesh seines of various lengths, small 
dip nets, galvanized-iron washtubs of 1* bushels capacity, tin dippers, and a 
flat-bottom rowboat. 

The seining crews begin their work each season as soon as the floods subside 
sufficiently to disclose conditions. The active operations, as a rule, begin in 
July and continue in a given section until the allotted task is accomplished or 
the waters freeze, usually early in December. 

The size and depth of given waters determine whether the men shall set 
their seines by wading or from a boat. As the net is carefully hauled and 
bunted, the fish are sorted into tubs, then carried as soon as practicable to the 
nearest point at which open water may be reached and there liberated. 

The cut-off waters are for the most part in the bottom lands on both banks, 
usually within a few hundred yards of the river. In some sections, however, 
where' the surface configuration permits a wide lateral dispersal of the flood 
waters, the temporary ponds that demand attention may be several miles back. 
It therefore happens that, while under ordinary circumstances the seining crew 
can easily carry the tubs of fish to the place of deposit, sometimes teams and 
motor trucks are employed. 

Some of the landlocked waters are veritable lakes in which many seine hauls 
may be required to secure all or most of the fishes; others are so small that they 
may be thoroughly fished with a single haul of a short seine; and others are so 
extensive at the time of the first visit that they may properly be left for future 
attention when their size shall have become reduced to a ]ioint where thor()Ugh 
seining is possible. 

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX MILLION SIX HUNDRED AND PIFTY-SEVEN THOX\SAND 
FOOD FISHES WERE RESCUED LAST SEASON. 

It may not appear to l)e a matter of great practical impoi-ta)H-e to know how 
many fishes of the ilifferent species are saved in the -course of a season's work, 
but it is at least a matter of considerable interest to have such a i-ecord for each 



20 EfiTABLlSH.AlEXT OF FISH EB^SCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 

of the various sections of the river and for a series of yeiu-s. Accordingly, the 
seining parties are under orders to make a count of the nunihei- of eacli species 
taken from each hody of water. 

The counting is done at' the time tlie tish are lifted from the seines into the 
tubs with dip nets. The tubs are half tilled with pui-e water, and tish of given 
sizes and species are counted into the tubs until the ^\•ater level rises to a ring 
inches below the top. 

Subsequently, actual couniing may not be necessary. Init the number may be 
determined with sufficient accuracy liy noting the water displacement. Frequent 
test countings are made in the course of the season, and a detinite ratio of 
iinml)er to bulk is established for each average size of tish and each species. 

When the weather is warm or the distance to the planting place is consiaer- 
able, the welfare of the fishes densely crowded in the tubs requires that the 
water be kept well aerated. This is accomplished l)y dipping up a little water 
at a time and letting it fall back from a height of several feet, and is always 
aided by the squirming of the mass of tish. which keeps the surface water 
agitated and often frothy. Under the care of the vigilant and skilled fish men, 
the mortality among the rescued waifs while in transit is negligible, and when 
released the fish jire healthy and active. 

Tliroughout the entire length of the Mississippi River, except where the banks 
are protected by levees or where bluffs occur in iiroximity to the shores, the 
annual floods leave temporary lakes, iionds. and pools that contain food fishes 
whose salvage is demanded. 

The territory covered by the (iovernment's rescue operations in 1911> extended 
from ^Minnesota and Wisconsin to Arkansas and Mississipiii. The places that 
were headqu.-irters for rescue i)arties were Homei-, Minn.; La Crosse. Wis.; 
Bellevue and North McGregor, Iowa; (^uincy and Cairo. 111.; Clarksville and 
Canton, Mo.; and Friars Point, Miss. 

The record-nnUving efforts in 1919 resulted in the saving of about ir)(>,t)r>7,<)(>0 
food fishes. All parts of the river ai'e not ecpially productive and all .sections 
were not covered with the same degree of thoroughness. The territory reached 
from the base stations in Minnesota. Wisconsin, and Iowa yielded by far the 
largest returns in rescued fishes. There the conditions are especially favorable 
for an enormous annual destruction, and the need for salvage work is most 
pressing. 

All the major ;ind many of the minor food fishes of the river are represented 
<in the lists of those saved. Predominating in numbers are the staple fishes, 
which support commercial fishing and contribute largely to the food supply of 
the region, notably the bnffalofishes. cai'ps, catfishes, pikes, crappies, sunfishes, 
and perches. 

Among the rescued g.ime fishes the large-mouth black bass holds an important 
])osition, and with it may be classed also the crappies. rock bass, white bass, 
and various other excellent fishes which, while taken for market, are much 
.sought by anglers throughout the Mississippi Valley. 

THE FOOD FISHKS SAVED ARE WORTH MILLIONS OF IMILLARS. 

The ycaing fishes that are salvaged and i-eplanted in the parent stream are of 
rapid growth. A few of them may attain marketable size in the year after 
their rescue, and all of them are likely to be .available for human use in two 
or three years. 

The most critical period in the life of fishes is during a few weeks imme- 
diately after hatching. Foi- most of the fishes rescued the principal danger 
fronj natural enemies and physical catastropjies has passed, the degree Of 
safety depending largely on the size attained. 

In the opinion of State and Fedei-al fish culturists familiar with conditions in 
the Mississippi Valley and experienced in the rearing of the local fishes, at 
least 2a per cent of the fishes rescued may be expected to survive to a market- 
able or legal size, and will reach an average weight of not less than li pounds 
in two or three years. Assuming that all the surviving fishes will then be 
caught for market and sold by the fishermen at the prices prevailing for the 
respective species in the local markets in December, 1919, the fishes salvaged by 
the P.ureau in 1919 are estimated to have a ju'ospective value of .H;(j..'i27,(M)0. 

THE COST OF THE WORK IS SlKl'RISl NGI.V S.MAT, I.. 

The fish-rescue work, however beneficial from the standpoint of fish conserva- 
tion, would hardly lie justified if the expense were disproportionate to the value 



ESTABLISHMENT OF PISII lllvSCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN, 21 

<»r the results. I[ is tlieivfore proper to note that the unit cost is only nominal, 
and even the total money outlay for operations of the magnitude of those in 
1919 is surprisingly small. 

Five years ago, when this work was undertaken on a limited scale and in- 
volved the salvaging of less than 2,500.000 fishes, the average cost per thousand 
fish saved was $3.18. In 1919, owing jiartly to the magnitude of the operations 
and partly to increased efficiency and better organization, the average cost per 
thousand was reduced to less than 20 cents. The cost in some of the less pro- 
ductive fields, where fixed overhead charges were applied to a comparatively 
small output, was somewhat higher, hut 75 to SO per cent of the fish were res- 
cued and replanted at a cost of only 13 cents per thousand. 

Throughout the Mississippi Valley— in the States of Minnesota, Iowa, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee. Missouri. Arkansas, and jMississippi — as well as in various 
other States, there are Federal estal)lishmenls known as pond-culture stations, 
at wliich are reared some of the same fishes that are rescued in the salvage 
oprations along the river, the principal species handled being the black basses, 
crappies, sunfishes, and catfishes. 

The peculiarity which distinguishes these stations from the ordinary hatch- 
eries is that the ripe eggs are not taken from the fishes by the fish-culturist, 
as in the case of trout, salmon, whitefish, shad, etc., but the fishes are allowed 
to spawn naturally. 

Most of the pond fishes make nests and guard their eggs and young. It is 

therefore usually the case at these stations that a relatively large proportion 

of the progeny of a given pair of fishes is reared to a stage where the young 

are able to take fairly good care of themselves, although the actual number 

. produced is small. 

The results of the operation of pond stations are of interest because of their 
bearing on the value of the rescue work. It m'ay therefore be noted that the 
common practice among both Federal and State fish culturists is to distribute 
pond fishes after they "have been reared to a " fingerling " size. A fingerling 
Is less than one year old, and may be from one to six inches long when planted. 

The average length of the pond fishes sent out from the nurseries is two to 
three inches." A Government pond station may produce, rear, and phmt from 
250,000 to 1,000,000 such fishes in a season, and the combined output of six typi- 
cal stations in 1919 may be placed at 2,725,000— a cost of $5.50 per thousand. 

From these figures it appears that the number of fishes rescued in 1919, if 
they had been produced and reared in the ordinary way at established plants, 
would have required 345 pond stations and the actual cost of production would 
have been about $860,000. To this sum, however, should be added the year's 
cost of the regular station statfs and general charges for maintenance, which 
would have been over $2,000,000. 

There should also be taken into consideration the initial cost of construction 
of the pond stations, estimated at not less than $12,000,000. Against these 
large hypothetical charges is to be placed the actual aggregate cost of the 
salvage operations in 1919, namely, $31,000. 

THE PE.VRL Bl'TTON INDUSTRY EMPLOYS 20,000 PEOPLE. 

The perpetuation of the fish supply in the Mississippi and its tributaries in- 
volves a very important industry besides fishing. Investigations conducted for 
the Bureau of Fisheries years ago showed an intimate relation between certain 
kinds of' fishes and the "mussels, which yield valuable pearls and support a 
peari-button industrv which gives employment to about 20,000 persons and has 
a product worth from $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 annually. 

The vounii nmssels. of microscopic size when thrown off by their ])arents in 
mvriiads. need to pass the first few weeks of their independent existence on the 
o'iils of fishes If the fishes are not present at the proper time, the mussels can 
not "survive Furthermore— and this is a most interesting feature of the corela- 
tion of fishes and mussels— the young of particulai- kinds of nmssels require the 
gills of particular kinds of fishes as nurseries. ' . ,. 

The black bass is host for several sorts of mussels, the crappies tor several 
others the catfishes for others. The skipjack, a kind of herring, is the only 
known host for the best of all mussels: and as Ihis fi.sh is not by any means 
abundant its maintenance is of prjme importance to the welfare of the button 
induslry " In 1019 iimre than one and a half million skipjacks were rescued. 
29158—21 3 



22 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WISCONSIN. 

AN IMPROVEMENT ON NATURE. 

The peculiar requireniouts of the young mussels having- been carefully ile- 
termined, the Bureau of Fisheries has gone extensively into the business of arti- 
ficial iHdiiagatioi! of pi'^iu'ly nnissels by a method whjich is a vast improvement on 
nature. The spawning mussels, held in ponds, are at the critical period provided 
with the special fishes needed for the attachment of the young. The fishes ob- 
tained in the rescue operations are turned into the ponds at the time the mussels 
are spawning and become thickly inoculated. They are then liberated in the 
open water and distribute' themselves and the mussels throughout a wide stretch 
of river. Thus two important branches of the bureau's work go hand in hand. 

The artificial propagation of fresh-water mussels is one of the functions of 
the I'nited States Fisheries Biological Laboratory located on the Mississippi 
River near Fairport, Iowa. K.ich year from 200.000.000 to 3(IO,Of)0,000 young 
mussels are thus brought in contact with the gills of rescued fishes and given a 
proper start in life. The maintenance of the mussel supply is thus ))eing gi'eatly 
aided. 

That thiiiS work is not a mere experiment, but is yielding practical I'esults, is 
shown by various pieces of evidence. For instance, pearl buttons nave been made 
from INIississippi River nmssels grown from larvre that had been artificially im- 
planted on the gills of a black bass less than two years before and had l)^^en 
under constant observation. These mussels would have attained full commei'cial 
size at the age of four and a half years. 

DTSTRinrTION or FISHES TO OUTSIDE WATERS. 

This account of the rescue work would be in<-oni]>lete if no refei'cnce were made 
to the sending of small numbers of salvaged fishes to waters i lore or less re- 
mote from the Mississippi. These fishes ser^■e the same pur]>ose as do the product 
of the hatcheries. They are intended for replenishing depleted waters or for 
stocking newly formed lakes and ponds that may have no fish life or no suitable 
supply of food or game fishes. 

Fishes as taken from the landlocked waters of the Mississippi Valley are not 
in a condition to stand distant shipment. It is therefore necessary to sub.iect 
them to a hardening pr(»c('ss before it ,iis safe or wise to send them on a long 
railway joui*ney. The hardening is done at several depots along the river, notably 
at La Crosse, Wis., and Rellevue. Iowa. At these and several other points are 
small buildings containing tanks in whiiili the fish are kept, without food, in cool, 
clear, running water for several days. 

The fish, then ready for sliipment. are placed in large cans and loaded hito- 
i-ailway cars, in which the\- make their journey m safety and comfort. Minor 
shipments for short distances may be made in Ijaggage caFS, with an attendant. 

The new all-steel distributing cars of the Bureiui of Fisheries embody the very 
h'test iidea in fish trans])ortation. These cars, with their permanent crews and 
vvith all modern improvements for keeping fish supplied with water and air. are 
hauled on fast passenger trains and have been used for forwarding from the I\Iis- 
sissipoi the special lots of rescued fishes desiigned for phmting in adjoining 
States. 

Sometimes a carload of fish may be taken in its entirety to a single point of 
deposit, but more frequently detachments are delivered en i-oute to applicants 
who have been noticfied in .-idvance. by mail or telegraph, to meet a given train 
with receptacles for taking their fish away. 

Lest there may be created the impression that large numbers of salvaged fishes 
that should be returned to the parent stream are being diverted to outside waters, 
it may be stated that in 1()lf) less tlian six-tenths nf 1 jter cent of the fishes saved 
from the IVIississippi floods were consigned to outside waters. This altogether 
negligible number consisted chiefly of catfishes, sunfishes, crappies, and basses. 

From what has already been stated, it must be apparent that this work on 
which the fisheries service of the Federal Government has voUmtarily embarked 
is of very great value, not only to the States immediately concerned, but also to 
distant parts of the country, for the food fishes of the Mississippi Basin receive 
a wide distribution in the trade. As a matter of fact, the importance of this effort 
as a means of maintaining and increasing the food supply of the country can 
hardly be equaled in any other field \\'hen cost, certain results, and quick returns 
are fallen into consideration. 

In most of the States bo)-dering on the ^lississippi there is a growing public 
interest in and ui-gent demtind for a continuation and extension of the rescue 



ESTABLISHMEXT OF FISH RESCUE STATTOX IX WISCOXSIX 2P) 

work; aiul along tlie Ohio, Missouri, aud otlier tributaries of tlic Mississijiiii, 
wliere tliere prevail essentially the same conditions as in the main stream, the 
desirability of this form of food conservation is being seriouslv considered. 

In the districts now only partly covered and in the sections where u]) to this 
time It has been impossible to undertake anv operations, there exists an oppor- 
tunity for very productive work. There are unbroken stretches of river 500 
miles in length, where the floods are yearly causing large sacrifice of food fishes, 
on which no attempts at rescue have heretofore been made because of lack of 
funds and personnel, and the major tributaries of the Mississippi present m 
virgin field of unknown possibilities. 

Tr should be understood that Congress does not appropriate funds especially for 
this particular work, and that the money now employed is in realitv part of a 
general appropriation for fish culture, and the persons and equipment detailed for 
the rescue operations are temporarily drawn from other branches of the service. 

What is needed, in order that this service may be conducted in a manner and 
on a scale that its importance justifies, is specific recognition by Congress 
through the providing of special funds and personnel, so that the work mav not 
lie contingent on the necessities of other duly established activities. 

STATEMENT OF HON. HARRY E. HULL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF IOWA. 

Mr. Hull. Gentlemen of the committee, just briefly at the start I 
want to siio-o-est merely that in your bill you put an "amendment on 
line 6, after the word " operations." by in.sertino- " in the Mississippi 
Valley." I do that simply so that itVill explain its nature better. 
T realize very well you did not intend to confine its operations to the 
State of Wisconsin. 

Mr. EscH. Not at all. 

Mr. Hull. But the members won't know how far this work can 
go. It o-oes the entire lenoth and breadth of the Mississippi Valley, 
as I understand it. 

Then, briefly, I want to call your attention to the importance of 
the pearl-button industry and how much that industry depends upon 
work of this character. The pearl-button industry is an industry 
that Avas started in the early nineties. It is a very remarkable in- 
dustry. At the present time it has a product approximated of 
$90,000,000 and employees some 20,000 people in different States. It 
]>ractically covers the entire Mississippi Valley, in a good portion 
of the Eastern States, extending even into the State of Massachusetts 
and quite extensively into New Jersey, and also in New York, where 
they have great factories. As you know, the pearl-lmtton industry 
is the production of pearl buttons, and it is of great importance to 
the people of this coimtry to have that industry. It i)roduces a but- 
ton that is much better for the purposes for which it is used than 
any other button. Up to the time of the introduction of this in- 
dustry they depended largely upon bone for their small buttons. 
To-day a much better button, from the sanitary standpoint, and a 
cheaper button for the people of this country, is produced from these 
mussels, and everybody wears them. All of you have them on you 
right now. And it is due to the fact they have found they can use 
the clam, which we used to go out and dig up in the bottom of the 
river and wonder what use could be made of it. It produces the 
pearl button to-day. 

That industry has got to find a way for the re])roduction of tlio 
clams in the river bottoms, because largely they Avent ont in the bed-' 
of the river and dug up the clams that had been formerly laid there 



24 ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IN WISCONSIN. 

and nobody paid any attention. To-day they are running short, and 
it is largely due to the fact that the mussel does not naturally repro- 
duce itself in sufficiently large quantities for the industry. 

Mr. Davis. If the pearl industry should receive the benefit of the 
very valuable assistance Avhich would be carried by the enactment of 
this bill I presume they would be willing to AAai\e their claim for 
a protective tariff, would they not ? 

Mr. Hull. If you wanted to kill the industry and transfer it to 
Japan, thej would. We do not think so. But that is another angle 
to the situation, of course. 

This rescue work, I think, is of wonderful importance to the 
people of this country, not only in the production of food, but also 
in the production of pearl buttons. These gentlemen who have the 
scientific knowledge have covered the case very comjDletely. The 
inoculation of the fish with the clam larvae does not hurt the fish at 
all. At the present time this work is carried on to some extent, but 
only in an experimental way, at the Fair Port biological station, 
Avhich is located in my district, and that is how I come to know some- 
thing about it. Also, the industry is very extensive in my district, 
and in the town of Muscatine the largest factory is located of any of 
the factories in my district. Xow, this Fair Port biological station 
is one of tlie greatest in the world: I guess it is the best-equipped 
biological station in the world. 

Dr. Smith. Fresh water. 

Mr. Hull. It is a fresh-water biological station. I attended the 
dedication of it last summer, and I was very much amazed to notice 
the scientific people gathered there. Thej^ were gathered there from 
all over this country; practically every university had scientific men 
there, telling of tlie great benefit to the people of this country such a 
station would be. 

Mr. Davis. Over what territory do the operations now extend with 
regard to gathering these shells? 

Mr. Hill. Practically 20 States are covered at the present time, 
and I presume there are more — it has been expanding all the while — 
and there is no place, I presume, except in the Mountain States, but 
where the clam can be propagated. 

Mr. Davis. Are the}- gathered by these manufacturing concerns or 
largely by parties who gather for themselves (' 

Mr. Hull. The clam gatherers are largely individuals who go to 
work and gather the clams, and they have boats and processes by 
which to do it, and they sell the clams just like you sell corn or any- 
thing else. It runs from $25 to $100 a ton, I guess. Sometimes they 
run very high and then they go down, as they get more. But they 
are going higher all the while. The general trend of the market is 
higher, because they are more scarce. 

That is the object of my appearing before you to urge the passage 
of a bill like this, which, as has been demonstrated by other gen- 
tlemen here, would very extensively expand the industry ; and the 
pearl-button industry, t think, is one of the important industries in 
this country to-day. producing, as it does, a cheaper button, a better 
button, and a button everybody uses. Its benefits go to the common 
people, and it gives them a very, very high-grade button. 

Mr. Randall. Is it not a fact, also, that in these mussels you find 
a large number of pearls ? 






ESTABLISHMENT OF FISH RESCUE STATION IX WISCONSIN. 25 

Mr. Hull. Yes; they can find pearls, but that is just a side issue. 
They do find them and there are men all the while running there. 
Wherever they are picking up clams on the bed of the river there 
are men waiting to hear of some fellow finding a pearl, and if thej 
hear of them, they go and try to negotiate. But that, of course, is 
purely a side issue. 

STATEMENT OF MR. W. P. FICKETT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., REP- 
RESENTING THE BUTTON MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION. 

Mr. FicKETT. I might say, Mr. Chairman, we are very much in 
favor of this bill and we want to support it. We have prepared a 
moving-picture film which outlines this rescue work very thoroughly 
and, if arrangements could be made with the committee to show it 
we would be glad to do so. 

The Chairman. That would have to be shown down in the Bureau 
of Fisheries ? 

Mr. FicKETT. Yes; we could show it there. This film tells the 
story of this work in a way, I think, to impress you very thoroughly. 

Dr. Smith. May I ask Mr. Fickett whether this motion-picture 
film to which he alludes was prepared by and at the expense of the 
pearl-button manufacturers ? 

Mr. Fickett. Yes, sir; the pearl-button manufacturers had this 
picture taken at their own expense when we were doing the rescue 
work Dr. Smith referred to this fall. The doctor has seen the pic- 
ture and I think he knows what it is. 

Dr. Smith. May I say just a word apropos of the suggestion of 
Congressman Hull. He has mentioned the desirability of an amend- 
ment in line 6, and will you permit me to call attention ta the fact 
that in a communication on this bill, sent at your request by the 
Secretary of Commerce, the same amendment is urged. 

Mr. Fickett. And may I add that the pearl-button manufactur- 
ers' association concur in that amendment and would like to see this 
bill made as broad as possible. ^ 

Mr. EscH. I wish to thank the committee for this hearing. 



